Before I give my input on the parts of the scripts that should’ve been improved or added, I’m going to make a list of all the things I enjoyed about the movie: their romance, sort of. I like the chemistry the actors had, but I can’t even fully say I enjoyed their romantic scenes because of the context it was written in, so to make sure everyone can actually enjoy and indulge in their romantic scenes (in another universe where I got to work on the script), here are parts from the movies that should’ve been edited.
Their introduction
I have no idea why the writers decide to introduce the main lead, Luke, as a sexist jerk from the get-go. He didn’t say the sexist line “We can go fight for you ass but can’t touch it?”, but he condoned it, which is every bit as horrible. I tuned out their entire conversation after because I felt like it got a little too American politic-y so I don’t have any input in their banter, but him endorsing his friend's sexist comments I would’ve edited out. Or at least show in that instant his friends said that sentence, Luke should’ve made a face, nudged him, or done something to indicate that he didn’t approve of what his friend said. That way, it sells to the audience from the first time that he is not sexist and doesn’t actually think of women as objects.
When he first heard her plan
Luke directly said that Cassie’s mum is illegal to her face, so I have no idea why she even fell for him or even let him walk away without a stinging cheek, but again, in my edit, he wouldn’t have said that. It would’ve just shown him contemplating her situation. Make him talk about why she shouldn’t cheat the government but also show him understanding why she was driven to the extreme proposal she was making by stuttering or something when she explained her stance. It at least shows that he isn’t just an uncompassionate jerk who doesn’t understand that the system he was working for is actively screwing with the people it also exploits. This scene could’ve shown his empathy and showed him struggling with the rules and his morality, so at least once again, he isn’t portrayed as a jerk.
The celebratory lunch
I hate everything about the scene. I honestly didn’t catch onto the “hunting down Arabs” line because I was already quite tuned out by then, but I hated everything that came after. And everything before. They needed a character to be racist so that they can cause friction for the main leads to argue? Fine. But why must it be Luke that got angry instead of Cassie? This is a romance movie that is trying to sell the trope of enemies-to-lovers, but they forgot that the enemies-to-lovers trope only works because the two characters already have little differences to begin with. In my opinion, enemies to lovers are just people who are on different sides of the coin. One of them is head, the other tails. They have different faces, but they are one and the same. If the enemies-to-lovers trope was to be executed correctly in Purple Hearts, Luke wouldn’t have agreed with the racist comment his friend made.
I very much hated that she sat down in the scene because he told her to. I would’ve walked away, so, in my re-imagined script, Cassie doesn’t sit down. She walks away, and then Luke was the one that went after her. And when he catches up with her, he’ll talk about how she’s ruining the mood of the very important last meal they have. She’ll talk about how she doesn’t want to be sharing a table with someone racist and berate him for condoning it. He’ll rebut by saying he doesn’t agree with what his friend says. She’ll say “Oh, really? Then why did you tell me to sit?”, and he’ll say “Because it’s not the right place or time. Everyone came out to have fun today, so you should’ve pulled him aside later instead of screaming at the table. Why ruin the mood of the entire table when you can just ruin his?”. She’ll then be caught by surprise that he isn’t actually racist, or at least he isn’t condoning it like what was in the original script, and then the scene of them hugging would’ve had more tension as it’ll show her struggling with the idea she has of him. Is he really a bad person, or did she jump to a conclusion based on a pre-conceived notion? And to end off the scene properly, I would’ve added a brief scene of Luke and his friend talking and then the friend coming to apologise to Cassie on the way back to the cabin. Wouldn’t this have made Luke seem less like a racist and more like a person who is just trying to fit into an unfortunate situation?
Their marital night
The sex scene was so unnecessary. I get it; they were already attracted to each other from the start. But I don’t understand how Cassie would sleep with Luke just because he admitted he was scared of going to war when a few hours ago he literally threw a tantrum because she didn’t want to hear a racist comment. Their being-vulnerable-with-each-other scene should’ve ended after their little moment when her hand was on his knee was over, and it should show them joking around after. Like Cassie teasing the fact that there was only one bed and then a witty remark from Luke. This way, it shows how the two of them are slowly starting to get comfortable with one another, and it can develop their feelings for each other more romantically and genuinely, rather than just throwing in an illogical sex scene.
Living together
Cassie is portrayed as a strong female character who understands and knows how the system doesn’t treat certain people nicely and stuff, right? So, at her home, I think it would be very reasonable for her to have books and articles and maybe even song lyrics lying around talking about the exploitative system she has to live under, a system that Luke perhaps doesn’t know. No one is actively aware that they are living with privilege until they get to look at the other side, so while living together, there should’ve been a scene that shows Luke learning about the flaws in the system he lives under and then slowly developing his character into a more compassionate one. She has a shirt that says, “The future is female”, for example, so put some feminist books at her home. Show a book that discusses what women have to go through in a patriarchal system. And then show a scene of Luke getting bored around the house and then picking that book up to read it. But don’t show it as a way of him trying to impress Cassie. Show it as a genuine moment of learning. Show him sleeping with the book half-opened, and then Cassie coming home to see him lying on the couch. Show her walking towards the couch to cover him with a blanket and seeing the book he was reading. Show her being surprised at him choosing to read such a book when other books are laying on the table which could’ve been more interesting to him, like a magazine or some sort, and then show her getting a bit fluttered with a small smile.
The next scene should then be her subtly testing him about what he read without him knowing, and then him answering the question without even thinking about it. This sequence would’ve shown both of their character development: him willingly stepping out of his comfort zone and learning about the struggles other people have and her putting her walls down around military men, a group of people she once viewed in disgust. Putting them under the same roof could’ve served many moments of them coming together and understanding each other, but instead, all we got were fluff scenes that once again addressed none of the terrible views Luke holds. Throwing moments of them learning and improving themselves would make the bathtub scene better, the jalapeno scene better, and the diabetes scene better. It would’ve made all the scenes better because their love would’ve been more genuine, as opposed to again “he’s hot, she’s pretty, let’s make out,".
Seriously, how can she have such hatred for him in the beginning and then love him by the end when he had absolutely zero character development? For all the audience knows, Luke is still the same sexist and racist jerk as he was in the beginning, and Cassie is a strong-willed woman but is willing to throw her morals out as long as the sex is good.
This movie needed a lot of character development from Luke, and a lot less apologising from Cassie.
(And they also needed me to work on the script 😉)